COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Kentucky Works Hard to Beat Auburn, 89-81

Kentucky, pushed in the second half by Auburn, used a barrage of three-point shots and some timely free throws down the stretch to turn back the Tigers, 89-81, in a Southeastern game at Auburn, Ala., Tuesday night.

The 10th-ranked Wildcats (16-3, 8-1) made 10 three-pointers against Auburn (10-8, 3-6), including one by Jeff Brassow with 1:03 remaining which sealed the victory.

“I think our press helped us steal a victory tonight,” Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino said. “Also, we were able to hit the big shots down the stretch and make our free throws in the final five minutes.”

Deron Feldhaus, who had four three-pointers, led Kentucky with 17 points. Wesley Person had 22 points for Auburn.

No. 15 Virginia 104, North Carolina State 72--John Crotty scored 21 points and had 14 assists as Virginia (15-4, 4-2) beat the Wolfpack (10-6, 3-3) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Charlottesville, Va.

Kenny Turner had 24 points and Bryant Stith 22 for Virginia. Tom Gugliotta had 24 points and Rodney Monroe 22 for North Carolina State.

No. 24 Kansas 78, Kansas State 69--Terry Brown’s three-point basket sparked a 14-2 second-half run as Kansas (14-4, 3-2) won its eighth in a row on Kansas State’s court in a Big Eight game at Manhattan, Kan.

Kansas State (10-8, 0-5) led, 30-26, at halftime and had Kansas center Mark Randall in early foul trouble. But the three-point shot by Brown gave the Jayhawks a 40-39 lead with 15:22 remaining.

First-year Kansas State Coach Dana Altman is still looking for his first conference victory.

Providence 65, No. 25 Seton Hall 62--Eric Murdock scored 24 points and became the NCAA’s career steal leader as Providence (13-7, 4-5) upset Seton Hall (13-5, 5-5) in a Big East game at Providence, R.I.

Murdock scored seven of the points in a 10-0 run in the second half that gave Providence the lead, and the Friars clinched the victory by making all 10 of their free throws in the final minute.

Murdock, with six steals, raised his career total to 344 in moving past Michael Anderson of Drexel into first place on the all-time list. REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS EAST

Sonni Holland scored 18 of his career-high 28 points in the first half and George Washington (11-7, 5-5) opened a 24-point lead on the way to a 97-87 Atlantic 10 victory over West Virginia (10-7, 6-3) at Washington. Mike Boyd led the Mountaineers with 21 points. . . . Damon Lopez scored five consecutive points in the final 3:15 as Fordham (15-5, 7-0) beat Army (4-13, 1-5), 54-50, to extended its winning streak to seven in a Patriot Conference game at West Point. MIDWEST

Keith Tower scored 22 points and Damon Sweet added 18 as Notre Dame (8-11) held off a Dayton (10-8) rally for a 73-67 victory at Dayton, Ohio. The Irish, who led 37-29 at halftime, had their widest margin at 57-46 on a tip-in by Tower, who scored 16 of his points in the second half. SOUTH

Garfield Smith made six free throws in the final 61 seconds to cap a late 14-2 run that enabled Maryland (12-7) to beat American University (8-9), 72-69, at College Park, Md.

SOUTHWEST

Ivaro Teheran scored 15 points and Houston (13-6, 5-3) defeated Texas A&M; (5-14, 0-8), 77-64, at College Station, Tex.